NBA Rumors: Stephen Jackson Must Show More Maturity for Any Team to Pursue Him

Every time Stephen Jackson openly complains about his spot on the team and runs down members of the organization, he hurts whatever value might be there for a contender to trade for.

Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld quoted Jackson saying that he would want to go play with the Magic.

I would love to [play in Orlando]...Dwight has said a couple of times that he wants me to be with him. When you get a compliment like that from a big man like Dwight, it means a lot.

There is a problem with this though, and it's not going to help Jackson get traded to the Magic, or any team. In the same interview, Jackson sounded off on his current team.

To not be playing, and not have any reasons behind it, it’s kind of disrespectful. At the end of the day, I’m 33 years old. I’m not a 22-year-old guy that you’re coaching. I’m a grown man who’s probably done more than a lot of people in this locker room in this league, including coaches. Like I said, I can’t put myself in the game and I can’t do anything except support my teammates and be ready for when I do play.

If you want to receive the treatment that you think a 33-year-old man deserves, you can't sound off like a 22-year-old, and an immature one at that. Yes, it's fine to be upset with your playing time, but that stuff needs to be kept in house.

People from the Magic are certainly going to hear this, as are executives from every team in the NBA that would look to pull the trigger on a trade for Jackson.

If he is sounding off in Milwaukee, there is no reason to believe that he wouldn't do the same thing with a new team whenever things go wrong. That is why it's best to keep things in house. Complaints are fine, going public with them is not.

We see this all time time in sports. Teams will be patient with a productive player who has some potential character issues for as long as he's a productive player. But when that productivity begins to drop, the market becomes incredibly dry, especially if the issues persist.

Jackson has already had issues, being one of the key "Malace in the Palace" figures and having a less-than-stellar history with the law. This isn't on par with any legal issues, but it's not the kind of image you want to leave a team that may be looking to make a trade for you.

After all, you are 33 years old. Part of being a man is learning how to deal with disappointment. When you don't do a good job of doing that, your trade value is going to be diminished.

The best way for Jackson to get out Milwaukee is to keep whatever off-court problems he has in house and play to the best of his abilities on the court. If he does that, we'll see him on a contender by season's end. If not, get used to seeing Jackson in a Bucks' jersey.